Apparatus for drilling wells



1,641,176 F. J. LEWIS APPARATUS FOR DRILLING WELLS Sept. 6, 1927.

Filed Sept. '7, 1926 For-est .1? Lewis [Even for Patented Sept. 6, 1927. r

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ronn'sir J. LEWIS, or CLEVELAND, onro.

Area-Earns roa Application filed Sieptember My invention relates to drilling rigs for oil wells,and particularly tomeans for controlling the power plant during adjustment of the, mechanism connecting thedrill to the power plant, and the principal objectof my invention is to provide new and improved means of this type.- .ln the drawingsaccompanying this specification and forming a. part of. this application I have shown, for purposes ot'illustration, one form which my invention .may assume.- In these drawings .Figure '1 is an elevation showing this cirbodiment of my invention as applied to a drilling rig for oil wells, while Figure 2 is a fragmentary section on the line 2 2otFigure1. I

The embodiment of my inventionherein shown comprises a walking beam 10 pivotally mounted at 11 uponvaf post 12, driven in any suitable manner by any suitable source OflIlOtlVG power, as by a crank mounted on the shaft of a steam engine and engaging the outer end (not shown) of the arm 13 of the walking beam 10, and having its other arm 1-1 connected to a suitable drill means 15 through a suitable connecting meal s '16 comprising a sleeve 17 unitary with the arm 1st of the walking beam 10, and a screw 18 unitary with the drill means 15, rotatable by means of a hand wheel 19, and rotatable relative to the drill means 15 by means of a rotatable connection comprising a shaft 20 unitary with the screw 18 and a collar 21 unitary with the drill means 15, the connecting means 16 thus providing, by rotation of the screw 18 in the sleeve 17, "for longitudinal adjustment of the drill means 15 relative to the arm 14 of the walking beam 10 as the drill means 15 penetrates.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, the adjustment of the connecting means 16 may best be made when the drill means 15 and arm 14 of the walking beam 10 are in their upper position; as will be obvious from the foregoing description, the elevation of the hand wheel 19 at this pointin the stroke.

will vary according to the adjusted posit-ion ofthe connecting means 16; and in order to provide access to the hand wheel 19 in all its various elevations the drilling rig comprises a. stool 22 provided with a plurality of steps 23 serving to support the operator in various elevations corresponding roughly to the various elevations of the hand wheel 19.

In order to permit the operator to control the operation of the walking beam 10 and .stool 22 and provided wi DRILLING WELLS.

7, 1926. SeriaLNo. 133,896.

connecting means 16 and drillmeans 15 while heisadjus'ting the connecting means 16 itis customary to extend the control. of the walking beam operating motor to a point adjacent the stool 22, and when the mechanism is operated by means of a steam cngine, as heretofore set forth, it is customary to provide this control by means oia-cable extending between a pulley disposed onthe throttle shaft or the steam engine and a v pulley mounted on a post disposed adjacent the. stool 22, theconnection being such that rotation of the. pulley mounted on the post adjacent the stool 22 will act through the cable connecting the pulleys, andthrough the pulley on the engine. throttleshaft. to rotate the engine throttle shaft .to vary :the operation oftheengine, and to thus varythe operation of the walking. means 15. The engine control means herein shown comprises a post 24 mounted adjacent the th a pair of pulley units 25 and 26 spaced from each other vertically along the post, the lower pulley unit 25 disposed in position to be readily beam 10 and drill accessible by the operator when he is in the I lower positions on the stool 22, and the upper pulley unit 26 disposed in position to be readily accessible by the operator when he is in the upper positions on the stool 22, and each of the pulley units 25 and 26 comprising a stud 27 screw-threaded into a plate 28 secured to the post- 24 by means of spikes 29, a sleeve 30 rotatably mounted upon the stud 27 and held against move ment longitudinally of the stud 27 by en; gagement at one end with the plate 28 and at the other end with the head 31 of the stud 27, a hand wheel pulley 32 screwthreaded on the outer end of the sleeve 30 and held in position by means ofa lock nut 33, and a small pulley 34L screw-threaded upon the opposite end of the sleeve 30 and held in position by a lock nut 35, and the two units 25and 26 being connected to operate in unison, and to operate the pulley on the engine throttle shaft, by means of a 'first cable 36 connecting the two small pulleys 34 of the units 25 and 26, and a second cable 37 connecting the hand wheel pulley 32 of the lower unit 25 with the pulley mounted on the engine throttle shaft.

From the above description it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that I have provided a control means readily acpulley unit in this adjiu cessible by the operator in the various eleuiiions at which he must be positioned to correspond to the various elevations of the hand wheel 19 of the connecting: means 16. At the same time it will also be obvious from the above description that the particular pulley unit construction which I disclose herein may be employed to tighten a cable connection by securing the plate 28 of that particular pulley unit to the post 24: by a single spike 29 and then swinging the plate :38 about this single spike as a fulcrum until the cable reaches the desired tautness, and then inserting the other spike 29 to hold. the ted position, and accordingly it will be obvious that 1 have also disclosed her in a new and improved pulley unitmounting".

In additiom it will also be obvious to those skilled in the art that the embodiment of my invention herein show and described embraces other ad. 'antaecs not specifically pointed out herein, and also that this particular Cllll'JOtlllHQDil of my invention may be *ariously changed and modified without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing these various advantages. It will therefore be understood that the disclosure herein is illustrative only, and that my invention is not limited thereto.

I claim:

In a drilling rig for oil wells comprising vertically reciprocating drill means; means for reciprocating said drill means; actuating means for said drill reciprocating means; and means for controllingfrom a distance said actuating means and through such actuating means the position of said drill reciprocating means to facilitate ad justment of said drill means on said reciprocating means and accessible at any elevation to which an operator may he required to no in making such adjustu'icnt, comprising a support, a first threaded stud carried by said support, a rotatable member mounted on said stud and operatively connected with the control of said actuating means, a second threaded stud carried by said support a rotatable member on said second stud, and means operatively connecting said first rotatable member and said second rotatable member.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

FOREST J. LEVIS. 

